Modified items

All recently modified items, latest first.

Probability of Presence by Species Group: Prediction maps for each of the nine groups. These are potentially important both to predict areas where to find particular groups and to determine regions of overall high habitat quality where species richness is expected to be high.

Land Use and Potential Risk Maps: This folder contains maps of land use and potential risk.

Study Overview Maps and Foundational Datasets: Overview maps for the Classification and Mapping of Cave and Karst Resources within the Appalachian region.

Bat Summary for Appalachian LCC Cave/Karst Study: This document contains a list of the bat species that regularly use caves and mines in the Appalachian LCC region, federal status of these species, and sources of bat data.

Guidelines for Using the NatureServe Climate Change Vulnerability Index: Motivated by the need to rapidly assess the vulnerability of species to climate change, NatureServe developed a Climate Change Vulnerability Index. The Index uses a scoring system that integrates a species’ predicted exposure to climate change within an area and three sets of factors associated with climate change sensitivity, each supported by published studies: 1) indirect exposure to climate change, 2) species-specific sensitivity and adaptive capacity factors and 3) documented response to climate change. Our primary goal for the Index is to provide valuable input for key planning documents, such as revisions of state wildlife action plans, to allow consideration of climate change impacts together with other stressors. We also hope this tool will help land managers develop and prioritize strategies for climate change adaptation that lead to actions that increase the resilience of species to climate change.

County Distribution of Assessed Species: County distribution for the climate change vulnerability of 41 newly assessed species is available for download. The entire package is available at the link provided.

Previous Climate Assessments on 700 Species: Find here Climate Change Vulnerability Assessments from previous research. Each excel file contains a subset of data from a compilation of climate change vulnerability scores for 700 species in the Appalachian LCC.

Phase II: Vulnerability Assessments: The second phase of this project provides the results of a number of climate change vulnerability assessments along with a final report.

Final Report: Climate Change Vulnerability Assessments in the Appalachian LCC: The Appalachian LCC tasked NatureServe with a two-phase project that explores the understanding of climate change in the Appalachian landscape. The first phase focused on assembling a panel of experts to provide guidance on a) prioritizing species and habitats to assess for vulnerability to climate change; b) selecting approaches to conduct vulnerability assessments, and c) identifying appropriate climate data to use in the assessments. Guided by the recommendations of the Panel, Phase II analyzes the results of 700 existing species assessments, and conducts vulnerability analyses on 41 additional species and 3 habitats. We used the recommendations of the Expert Panel, as well as the existing compilation to guide our recommended list of additional species and habitats to be assessed in Phase II. Criteria included a focus on the Interior Low Plateau and on plants, neither of which were well represented in existing assessments, as well as species of high conservation significance, keystone or species otherwise important to the habitat, and those of high value as indicators of climate change. This report summarizes Phase II of this effort.

Literature Review of Freshwater Classification Frameworks: Identifying aquatic ecosystems requires a classification of stream and lake features into recognizable categories. Although a number of nationally recognized terrestrial community classifications exist, currently there is no national or international standard for classifying aquatic communities or ecosystems. Despite the lack of a national aquatic community classification, aquatic ecosystem classifications and frameworks have been developed at a variety of spatial scales to reflect the distribution of aquatic biological communities. This report reviews these freshwater classification frameworks, providing detailed analysis and application examples of taxonomic, environmental, and hydrologic classifications in use within the Appalachian region.

Data Access: The entire stream classification dataset is available for download as a zip file.

Background Materials: Stream Impacts from Water Withdrawals in the Marcellus Shale Region

WCS Climate Adaptation Fund Webinar: The Wildlife Conservation Society is pleased to announce the next round of grantmaking through the Climate Adaptation Fund. Interested organizations should carefully review the guidelines outlined in the Request for Proposals and the Applicant Guidance Document.

Service and partners announce science-based tool to help prioritize and target fish habitat conservation: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and North Atlantic Landscape Conservation Cooperative (LCC) today announce the availability of an online tool that enables users to target and prioritize fish habitat conservation in the face of climate and land use change.

Power Companies, Tribe, Agencies Take Steps to Save Rare Fish: Power companies, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, and state and federal agencies have come together to conserve the sicklefin redhorse, a fish found in only six Appalachian counties worldwide and being considered for the federal endangered species list.